This weekend was spent like most. Netflix, something new to love watching thanks to an awesome recommendation, amazing meeting with the crit girls on Skype, and an afternoon hanging with my mom.
Starting with the mom: We went and saw the area's sort of new Philharmonic Orchestra playing classical music that has appeared in a classic cartoon. Then played clips of the specific cartoon. It was pretty darn cool! They also gave facts about the pieces, cartoons, etc. I had no idea Fantasia was so old! And the sorcerer in it was modeled lightly after Walt Disney himself! Anyway, it was a sweet time.
The new Netflix watch this weekend was Veronica Mars. Oh. My. I love this show!! So much so I tuned out the hub's protest about watching shows about teenagers for 12 year olds. Made him give it a chance, and he soon after stopped fighting it. I'm inclined to say he actually began to get interested by Sunday, but I doubt he would ever admit it ;) And Kristen Bell is just too adorbs.
Lastly leads to a question for you all. My fabulously talented crit ladies are too smart and kind to me. They are really whipping my novel into shape! (and provided more LOLs than I can remember) But Lady M pointed out my love for cliches sayings. I use them because people can understand them easily... And also when I can't think of another way to say something. I have 3 I'm interested in changing. But I have hit a wall. (See there? Another one. There are other ways to say that that I can think of, but it's sometimes easier and less distracting to just use a cliche. It isn't always wrong, but Lady M is right about not doing it too much.)
So, how do you solve the cliche saying problem?
How was everyone else's weekend?
Happy Monday!!
I start by figuring out if I really need to get the cliche across, or if it's just a lazy way of adding flavor to the scene without trying another angle. Then I usually cut the cliche and examine what's left--I have a tendency to overwrite everything, so where one sentence will suffice, I usually have four plus cliche.
ReplyDeleteBut that's me, and I'm not so great at it just yet. :)
PS: My husband really enjoyed Veronica Mars! He loved her dad.
My daughter and I have been on a Netflix Veronica Mars binge for a few weeks. I want my MC to sound like Veronica--so AWESOME!!
ReplyDeleteYAY for Veronica Mars! I actually am writing a relationship into my Cozy series very like the Veronica/Weevil one--not a friendship ACTUALLY, but... sort of a mutual respect, help each other out thing... (handy to have a friend in low places)
ReplyDeleteDid you know Fantasia was the first movie I ever saw in a theater? I was 5, I think. Mom and I got all dressed up and took a home popped bag of popcorn (we were poor)
Sounds like a great weekend! (I have to clean up some cliches, too--they ARE easy shorthand. I think having characters that use them is okay, so if you are in first person, it might work... or in dialogue. As a 3rd person narrator, though, yeah... limiting is best.)
I thought I was the Queen of Cliches! Dang. Seriously, though, I love them. My first drafts are randomly sprinkled with more sayings and phrases than Carters' got little liver pills. ;o)
ReplyDeleteWhat I do is use them liberally in the first draft. Later, I gauge whether they're necessary, if I can cut them or how I can tweak them so they're similar enough to be recognizable but not exactly the same. Like 'beggars can't be choosy' or 'people in hot places want a cool beverage'. (Okay, those are lame, off the top of my head examples, but you catch my drift.)
Oh I really struggle with this. Sometimes I don't even recognize that something is cliche (oops!) and I have to rely on my crit partners or beta testers to kick me in the shin!
ReplyDeleteOne way to tackle a cliche is to play with the wording. "Her emotions were dark as night" might become, "Her emotions were dark and cold as a lump of coal." (Not great, but better.)
ReplyDeleteLove Veronica Mars so much! It's definitely not just for teenagers. And I have problems with cliches, too. On one round of revisions, I'll underline all my cliches and go back, making sure there's not a better way to say them. Good luck!
ReplyDeleteI ask other people how would they reword that phrase. I'm smart, but I can't think of everything!
ReplyDeleteI think Summer said it really great!!! When using cliche's I always make sure they're warranted and it's normally to make fun of it (cuz that's how badass my characters are). That being said I rely a ton of my crit partners to help me pull through the YUCK.
ReplyDeleteI need to check out Veronica Mars still but I've recently dove into The Vampire Diaries, Season 1, and I AM OFFICIALLY ADDICTED. Wishing I was at home to watch it now. Alas, I'm at work. Boo.
I think if it's in dialogue, it can tell the reader a lot about the character... but in exposition, maybe no--?
ReplyDeletenever watched VM, but I love how much you & your mom do together. Looking forward to those days~ :o) <3
First, I try to see how the character thinking them would think about it. Usually that gets it all sorted. :-)
ReplyDeleteMy MC uses cliches ALL the time. I had a couple of people point this out to me once, but it's part of her character. I'd NEVER change that about her. Ever.
ReplyDeleteI had quite a few, but I managed to clean up most of them. Sometimes you just CAN'T come up with something better without it feeling forced.
ReplyDeleteMichael
I have to admit that I'm probably one of the few people who have seen Veronica Mars.
ReplyDeleteAs for your cliche problem. You could try making up your own.
First of all. VERONICA MARS ROCKS!!! I only discovered the show this year, because one of my CPs sat down and forced me to watch it! I heart that show a lotttt :)
ReplyDeleteRegarding cliches... My (freaking awesome, award-winning) writing instructor once told me your characters can use cliches in dialogue, but the rest of the prose should remain cliche free. I can't really think of a good cliche to use off the top of my head--but it's kind of like this:
Saying "he woke up with pounding headache" could become "he woke up with a freight train running through his head." (Not that a pounding headache is necessarily cliched)
So that's what I try to do when I come across a cliche in my writing. I either twist the words so that it's a play on a cliche, or I change it completely.
Ooh, looks like a lot of people like Veronica Mars- I need to check it out. Cliches schmiches ;p But, your crit partners are pretty genius, so you know...we'll figure it out!
ReplyDeleteveronica mars is an awesome show :)
ReplyDeleteClichés, huh? Who doesn't love a good placed cliché? I suppose agents... I think you have to determine in where and how it is used, if it is in dialog or in first person that kind of thing.
ReplyDeleteIn the first draft I write whatever. In the second I highlight the cliches and can spend an enormous amount of time coming up with something original. I only keep a cliche if I use it in an unexpected way in dialogue, for example. In a scene where my heroine is grilling her love interest, before she has admitted that she loves him. She had met some ladies who were jealous of her the night before. That part is just referenced and is not included in the story.
ReplyDelete(She's a modern American. He's a medieval prince in an alternate world.)
Anyway...he wants to change the subject. Her response is: "Is it getting too hot in the kitchen?"
He answers, "I have no idea if the kitchen is overheated, my lady."
It's important to remember that a cliche was once an original work that was so memorable that it became a cliche. Why not create the next best cliche yourself.
Nancy
N. R. Williams, The Treasures of Carmelidrium
Hmm. I usually just cut it. Or make it really obvious, in a parody kind of way... er... but yeah, that's a good question!
ReplyDeleteMy early drafts are always full of cliches. I can't help it -- when I'm getting my story down on paper the first time, cliches are a way to say what I need to say without having to think too hard. Luckily, most of them get cut in later drafts.
ReplyDeleteBut a few might still stay in... if it really is the exact right way to say something (and sometimes, it is).
Glad you had a fun time this week.
ReplyDeleteFor clichés, I don't know really. I'm actually skeptical about anything that comes to my mind quickly, because I distrust the easy way. Sometimes this helps me think again and find a less likely solution. I also think permanently: have you heard that before?
Nahno ∗ McLein ™
Kristen Bell owns my heart. :)
ReplyDeleteNetflix this weekend didn't happen because of work. I wanted to see the first season of Merlin though. Still on the list.
When I first started writing (way long time ago, before I ever completed anything), I was amazed at what was actually cliche. Opening with a dream? Cliche. MC looking in mirror? Cliche. Cliche's? Yep, cliche.
ReplyDeleteBut they're cliches because PEOPLE LIKE THEM, DAMMIT!!!!!
thanks for letting me get that off my chest.
erica
Sounds like a fun weekend!
ReplyDeleteI think cliches are okay in dialogue, because people use them in natural conversation all the time. And a few others here and there aren't necessarily bad!
I just have to dig up some extra special imagination sauce to redo the cliches in my own style. Sometimes I succeed, and sometimes I fail!
ReplyDeleteLady M? Wow. I feel super important! Don't think anyone's called me a Lady before. :P
ReplyDeleteYou're right, cliches aren't always wrong. But my issue with them with you, is that you come up with such amazing comparisons. You are talented enough to come up with better stuff. I only push you cause I LOVE you like a fat kid loves cake! (hahahaahaha)
ALSO! I FUCKING LOVE VERONICA MARS!!!!! So glad you found that show. It KILLED me when it was over!
I had a problem putting cliches in my manuscript also and had to go through and cut so many of them out. I think that it is great that you have such great crit partners that are there to help you out. That rocks.
ReplyDeleteI've never watched the show. I would if I could figure out which channel it's on--and if I have said channel.
ReplyDeleteI know what you mean about the cliches. I've had to cut a number out of my WIP. Plus I had to rewrite a small portion of my first chapter because my CP felt it was a cliche. ;)
Hi, cutie... Glad your hubby stepped out of his 'comfort zone' ;) and decided to watch this show. I think that's sweet!
ReplyDeleteWell, here's how to do cliches--especially if there's really no way out of it. Give them a new twist. IE: He vanished into thick air. -or- As old as rhyme.
It can be fun--and challenging--to come up with fresh takes on old ones.
Good luck!
♥.•*¨ Elizabeth ¨*•.♥
Hmmm a couple of cliche phrases here and there does allow others to relate to what you are saying :O)
ReplyDeleteCliches can be a lazy way to get a point across. Why not make up your own? I wrote a historical short story and instead of using modern cliches, 'adapted' them to fit with the era and theme of the story. Not quite a brilliant example, but instead of "son of a bitch", my character swears "bastard son of a harpy".
ReplyDeleteGet my drift? ;)
It depends where the cliche shows up. If it's in my prose then I'll force myself to find a way to get my point across without using the cliche.
ReplyDeleteBUT, if it's a character saying it, I leave the cliche alone. I haven't met a person yet who doesn't use the occasional (key word) cliche, so characters are allowed one every now and again as well.
I keep hearing Veronica Mars is a great show - I'll have to check it out when I get some free time:) I'm still working on ways to eliminate cliches. You've got some good tips in the comments so far!
ReplyDeleteOoh, I recently read another recommendation for Veronica Mars. Really looking forward to watching it soon :-)
ReplyDeletePS. I like J.C. Martin's "bastard son of a harpy"!
Wow - some great advice already! I'll agree that I keep hearing it's ok in dialogue. I mean - that's how real people talk. They use cliches ALL the time. I know I do! When it comes to the prose - there's a million and one new ways to say/describe something. Have fun with it and bounce the "new way" off your CPs - see if they think it works.
ReplyDeleteAnd I JUST finished watching Veronica Mars!! I SOOO love this show - I think I cried a little after I watched the last episode... :( I hate it when my favorite shows end too soon...
I've moved on to "The Dead Zone". It's kind of fun to watch Farmer Ted all grown up! :)
I first watched it because my hubby recommended it - I raised an eyebrow with the same scepticism your hubby showed. But, I agree, it is a good show. I love finding shows late, so you can watch the whole season at once.
ReplyDeleteWell, Lady M DID say "You don't have to take it out. You can keep it if you want" so you only have to change them if YOU really want to. ;-) Sometimes I rework the sentence a few times. Others, I just take it out altogether. If I had to use a cliche, I probably didn't even need the sentence in there. Which is funny coming from me. Because Lady M also pointed out the same thing about my writing...or was that Absters? Somebody else was throwin' around cliches. You're in good company. Let's weed them out now!
ReplyDeleteI've heard so much about Veronica Mars--just have to watch it some day!
ReplyDeleteI've been watching Parks & Recreation on Netflix. I can't believe I missed it the first time around!
ReplyDeleteGlad you're loving Veronica Mars, as I just adore Kristen Bell.
ReplyDeleteLooks like you've already received a ton of great advice on the cliche issue, so I'll just wish you well and keep my fingers crossed that it all works out.
Oh, <3 Veronica Mars!
ReplyDeleteLots of good advice above. I'm not sure how much I can add! Read it through out loud, ask some non-writers how they'd phrase it. If you still love it, leave it in. If there's another way you can say it that adds something more to the story--that allows you to contribute to your voice, or do something extra, then go for it.
well, you've already seen what a fan I am of clichés. Don't sweat it! lol
ReplyDeleteCliches, ugh! LOL, but you've already got some great comments. And some great critique partners ;) Love the new profile picture :)
ReplyDeleteHugs,
Rach